Pilot grouping and route protocols in multi-carrier communication systems

ABSTRACT

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to methods and systems for pilot grouping, route protocols, and scheduling in multi-carrier communication systems. In an embodiment, an access terminal may group a plurality of pilot signals characterized by different frequencies into one or more pilot groups, each pilot grouping being identified by a plurality of parameters (e.g., a PN offset and a group ID). Each pilot group may include pilot signals having substantially the same coverage area. The access terminal may further select a representative pilot signal from each pilot group for pilot strength reporting. The access terminal may also use the pilot grouping for effective set management.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. §120

This Present Application for Patent is a Divisional Application ofpending U.S. Patent Application No. 11/523,959 entitled “Pilot Groupingand Route Protocols in Multi-Carrier Communication Systems,” filed Sep.19, 2006, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 60/719,760, filed on Sep. 22, 2005 entitled“Pilot Grouping And Route Protocols In Multi-Carrier CommunicationSystems,” filed Sep. 22, 2005, each assigned to the assignee hereof andhereby expressly incorporated by referenced herein.”

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application for Patent is related to U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/156,202, filed on Jun. 17, 2005, entitled “Pilot Grouping and SetManagement in Multi-carrier Communication Systems,” which claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Provisional Patent Application No.60/659,856, filed on Mar. 8, 2005, entitled “Pilot Strength Reportingand Active/Candidate/Neighbor Set Management for Multi-carrier System.”

BACKGROUND

1. Field

This disclosure relates generally to wireless communications. Morespecifically, embodiments disclosed herein relate to pilot grouping andreporting, route protocols, and scheduling in multi-carriercommunication systems.

2. Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication (e.g., voice, data, etc.) to multiple users. Suchsystems may be based on code division multiple access (CDMA), timedivision multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access(FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or othermultiple access techniques. A communication system may be designed toimplement one or more standards, such as IS-95, cdma2000, IS-856,W-CDMA, TD-SCDMA, and other standards.

As the demand for multimedia and high-rate data services rapidly grows,multi-carrier modulation has been attracted considerable attention inwireless communication systems. There lies a challenge to provideefficient and robust multi-carrier communication systems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a multi-carrier communicationsystem;

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a cell having multiple sectors in amulti-carrier communication system;

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of several sectors and associated pilotsignals in a multi-carrier communication system;

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of pilot grouping in a multi-carriercommunication system;

FIG. 5 illustrates a section of the embodiment of FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate an embodiment of set management in amulti-carrier communication system;

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of traffic channel assignment in amulti-carrier communication system;

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of scheduling in a multi-carriercommunication system;

FIG. 9 illustrates a flow chart of a process, which may be used in anembodiment to implement pilot grouping and reporting in a multi-carriercommunication system;

FIG. 10 illustrates a flow chart of a process, which may be used inconnection with traffic channel assignment in a multi-carriercommunication system;

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow chart of a process, which may be used inconnection with scheduling in a multi-carrier communication system;

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus, in which somedisclosed embodiments may be implemented;

FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus, in which somedisclosed embodiments may be implemented; and

FIG. 14 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus, in which somedisclosed embodiments may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to methods and systems for pilotgrouping and reporting, route protocols, and scheduling in multi-carriercommunication systems.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a multi-carrier communication system100. By way of example, various access terminals (ATs) 110, includingATs 110 a-110 c, are dispersed throughout the system. Each AT 110 maycommunicate with an access network (AN) 120 via one or more channels atdifferent frequencies on a forward link and/or a reverse link at a givenmoment, as illustrated by double-sided arrows 130. For illustration andclarity, two double-sided arrows 130 are shown for each AT 110. Theremay be any number of channels (or frequencies) on the forward link orreverse link in a communication system. Further, the number offrequencies on the forward link (or “forward link frequencies”) need notbe the same as the number of frequencies on reverse link (or “reverselink frequencies”).

AN 120 may further be in communication with a core network, such as apacket data network via a packet data serving node (PDSN) 140. In anembodiment, system 100 may be configured to support one or morestandards, e.g., IS-95, cdma2000, IS-856, W-CDMA, TD-SCDMA, othermulti-carrier standards, or a combination thereof

An AN described herein may refer to the portion of a communicationsystem configured to interface with a core network (e.g., a packet datanetwork via PDSN 140 in FIG. 1) and route data between ATs and the corenetwork, perform various radio access and link maintenance functions,control radio transmitters and receivers, and so on. An AN may includeand/or implement the functions of a base station controller (BSC) (suchas found in a 2^(nd), 3^(rd), or 4^(th) generation wireless network), abase-station transceiver system (BTS), an access point (AP), a modempool transceiver (MPT), a Node B (e.g., in a W-CDMA type system), etc.

An AT described herein may refer to various types of devices, including(but not limited to) a wireless phone, a cellular phone, a laptopcomputer, a wireless communication personal computer (PC) card, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), an external or internal modem, etc. AnAT may be any data device that communicates through a wireless channeland/or through a wired channel (e.g., by way of fiber optic or coaxialcables). An AT may have various names, such as access unit, subscriberunit, mobile station, mobile device, mobile unit, mobile phone, mobile,remote station, remote terminal, remote unit, user device, userequipment, handheld device, etc. Different ATs may be incorporated intoa system. ATs may be mobile or stationary, and may be dispersedthroughout a communication system. An AT may communicate with one ormore ANs on a forward link and/or a reverse link at a given moment. Theforward link (or downlink) refers to transmission from an AN to an AT.The reverse link (or uplink) refers to transmission from the AT to theAN.

A multi-carrier communication system described herein may include afrequency division multiplexing system, an orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing system, or other multi-carrier modulation systems, whereeach carrier corresponds to a frequency range.

A cell may refer to a coverage area serviced by an AN. A cell may bedivided into one or more sectors. One or more frequencies may beassigned to cover a cell. FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a cell 200in a multi-carrier communication system. By way of example, cell 200 isshown to be divided into three sectors 210, 220, 230. Three frequencies,f₁, f₂, f₃, are assigned to cover cell 200. For illustration andclarity, cell 200 is shown as a cylinder, whose cross-section areacorresponds with cell 200's coverage area, and whose height along anaxis 240 corresponds with the frequency dimension of cell 200. As such,each wedge of the cylinder (across all frequencies) constitutes asector. In other embodiments, cells may have different shapes, and mayhave any number of sectors. There may also be any number of frequenciesallocated to a cell. For example, in some situations, multiplefrequencies may be allocated to a cell covering a large coverage area,such as shown in FIG. 2. In other situations, one frequency may beallocated to a cell covering a small dense area (e.g., a “hot spot”).

A pilot signal (or “pilot”) described herein may be characterized (orspecified) by a set of parameters, e.g., denoted as <PN offset, channel>(or <channel, PN offset>), where “channel” may refer to the frequency ofthe pilot signal. The term “channel” may be used herein interchangeablywith the term “frequency.” Further, a “coverage area” of a pilot signalmay refer to a “strength vs. distance” profile of the pilot signal.

In a single-carrier communication system, an AT is required to reportthe strengths of all the pilot signals received, as the pilot signalsbecome strong or weak in strength. In a multi-carrier communicationsystem, there may be multiple pilot signals associated with a sector, asshown in FIG. 2. If an AT were to report the strength of each pilotsignal received (as in the single-carrier system), such would cause toomany triggers for a pilot strength report (e.g., a route update messagein an IS-856 type system) because there are more pilots signals and eachof which may cross the reporting thresholds independently due toshort-term fading; and each report would also be larger because thereare more pilot signals to report. Further, many of these pilot signalsmay have comparable coverage areas and reporting one of them may providesufficient information to the AN with regard to the set of pilot signalsthe AT is receiving. A need, therefore, exists for efficient managementof pilot signals in multi-carrier communication systems.

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to methods and systems for pilotgrouping and reporting, route protocols, and scheduling in multi-carriercommunication systems.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of several sectors and associated pilotsignals in a multi-carrier communication system 300. System 300 maygenerally include any number of sectors, each associated with one ormore pilot signals having distinct frequencies. For illustration andclarity, three sectors 310, 320, 330 are explicitly shown. Also shown byway of example are pilot signals 311, 312 associated with sector 310,pilot signals 321-324 associated with sector 320, and pilot signals 331,332 associated with sector 330. These pilot signals are shown inreference to a frequency axis 340, indicating that pilot signalsassociated with a given sector have different frequencies.

FIG. 3 further illustrates a strength vs. distance profile 350presenting the coverage area of pilot signal 321 or 322, and a strengthvs. distance profile 355 presenting the coverage area of pilot signal323 or 324.

In an embodiment, an AN (not explicitly shown) serving sector 320 mayassign a group identifier (or ID) to each of pilot signals 321-324 basedon their coverage areas, such that the pilot signals having thesubstantially same coverage area share a common group ID. PN offset maybe used as the group ID in one embodiment. For example, pilot signals321, 322 may share a common group ID (or PN offset); pilot signals 323,324 may also share a common group ID (or PN offset). The AN may thentransmit pilot signals 321-324 with the corresponding group IDs. Uponreceiving pilot signals 321-324, an AT 360 may group pilot signals 321,322 into a first pilot group and pilot signals 323, 324 into a secondpilot group in accordance with their group IDs. AT 360 may select onepilot signal from each pilot group as a representative pilot signal forthe group: e.g., pilot signal 321 may be selected as the representativepilot signal for the first pilot group, and pilot signal 324 may beselected as the representative pilot signal for the second pilot group.AT 360 may measure the strength of each received pilot signal, or atleast one pilot signal from each pilot group (such as the representativepilot signal). AT 360 may include only the representative pilot signal(as opposed to the entire pilot group) in a pilot strength report, asfurther described below.

In FIG. 3, two pilot strength thresholds, “pilot-add” and “pilot-drop”,are marked on profiles 350, 355. These thresholds may be used todetermine to which one of AT 360's candidate set and neighbor set eachreceived pilot signal belong. For example, if the strength of a pilotsignal received by AT 360 exceeds the pilot-add threshold, the pilotsignal may potentially be added to AT 360's candidate set, as furtherdescribed below. If the strength of a pilot signal received by AT 360falls below the pilot-drop threshold, the pilot signal may be removedfrom AT 360's active set or candidate set.

In one embodiment, as AT 360 moves away from sector 320, it may firstdetect that the strengths of pilot signals 323, 324 in the second pilotgroup fall below the pilot-drop threshold, and later those of pilotsignals 321, 322 in the first pilot group. (Such may be due to thatpilot signals 321, 322 do not have counterparts in neighboring sectors310, 330, hence being subject to less interference.) As a result, AT 360may first send a pilot strength report for the representative pilotsignal associated with the second pilot group and later a pilot strengthreport for the representative pilot associated with the first pilotgroup to the AN, in connection with these two events. The pilot strengthreport may include, e.g., the strength, the PN offset, and the frequencyof the corresponding representative pilot signal. In another embodiment,as AT 360 moves closer to sector 320, AT 360 may first send a pilotstrength report for the representative pilot signal associated with thefirst pilot group and later a pilot strength report for therepresentative pilot associated with the second pilot group to the AN(in connection with the sequential rise of the strengths of the pilotsignals in these two groups).

Further, pilot signals in sectors 310, 330 may also be grouped in asimilar manner. For example, pilot signals 311, 312 in sector 310 mayform a pilot group. Pilot signals 331, 332 in sector 330 may also form apilot group. In an embodiment, sector 320 (or the AN servicing it) mayselect one pilot signal from each pilot group in neighbor sectors 310,330, e.g., pilot signal 311 and pilot signal 332, and advertise only theselected pilot signals from its neighbor sectors.

The pilot grouping and reporting thus described allows ATs tocommunicate effectively with an AN in a multi-carrier communicationsystem, while avoiding excessive use of network resources. It furtherallows an AT to perform set management effectively, as further describedbelow.

In some embodiments, a pilot group may be identified by a set ofparameters, e.g., <PN offset, GroupID>, where GroupID denotes a groupID, and the pilot signals having substantially the same coverage areafall within the same pilot group. An AT may further select a singlepilot from each pilot group as the representative pilot for the group,and send a pilot strength report (e.g., a route update message) only forthe representative pilot. By grouping the pilots in this manner, the ATneed not send multiple reports for the pilots having substantially thesame coverage area.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of pilot grouping in a multi-carriercommunication system. For illustration and clarity, each pilot isrepresented by a box labeled with <frequency, PN offset; further, thearea of each box is shown to be in relation (e.g., proportional) to thecoverage area of the associated pilot. For example, pilot <f₂, PN=b> isshown to have a larger coverage area than pilot <f₁, PN=b> associatedwith the same sector, due to no adjacent channel interference.

By way of example, GroupID=x and GroupID=y are shown to be associatedwith the pilots illustrated in FIG. 4. The sector associated with pilot<f₁, PN=a> may advertise pilots <f₁, PN=b, GroupID=x> and <f₂, PN=b,GroupID=y> as neighbors. As such, the pilot grouping thus describedallows the AN to get separate pilot strength reports from the AT whenthe coverage areas of the co-located pilots are different and to use thesame pilot PN planning in the overlaid frequency.

In an embodiment, to take advantage of the additional coverage of pilot<f₂, PN=b>, the AT may be allowed to point its data source control (DSC)channel to different cells (e.g., those in its active set) on differentfrequencies, such as DSC_f₁ and DSC_f₂ illustrated in FIG. 5. Forexample, if the AT is allowed to point its DSC only to the cell withPN=a, then it may get only the single carrier coverage as there is nocoverage on frequency f₂. On the other hand, if the AT is allowed topoint its DSC only to the sector with PN=b on frequency f₁, it may get abad coverage associated with pilot <f₁, PN=b>, because it is closer topilot <f₁, PN=a>.

FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate an embodiment of set management in amulti-carrier communication system. For clarity and illustration, eachpilot signal is specified by <“PN offset|GroupID”, frequency>. By way ofexample, FIG. 6A shows that an AT (not explicitly shown) may initiallyhave an active set 610 including a first pilot group and a second pilotgroup. The first pilot group includes two pilot signals specified by <x,f₁> and <x, f₂>, and the second pilot group includes two pilotsspecified by <y, f₁> and <y, f₂>. The AT may also have a candidate set620, which may initially include, a third pilot group having one pilotspecified by <z, f₂>.

FIG. 6B illustrates one example, where a pilot specified by <z, f₁> isadded to active set 610. As a result, a pilot specified by <z, f₂> isremoved from candidate set 620, because both would belong to the samepilot group.

FIG. 6C illustrates another example, where a pilot specified by <x, f₂>is removed from active set 610 and is not added to candidate set 620.This is because there remains another pilot specified by <x, f₁>belonging to the first pilot group in active set 610.

The pilot grouping disclosed herein allows for efficient set managementin a multi-carrier system. There may be other embodiments of setmanagement.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of how information may be conveyed inthe traffic channel assignment in a multi-carrier communication system.A traffic channel assignment (TCA) message from an AN to an AT may carryvarious types of information, including (but not limited to):

-   -   Pilots in the AT's active set.    -   Frequencies on which the AT may transmit.    -   <FeefbackMultiplexinglndex, RL frequencies>, where        “FeebackMultiplexinglndex” indicates how the following        information related to multiple forward link (FL) channels may        be multiplexed into a single reverse link (RL) channel:        information such as cell selection, hybrid automatic repeat        request (ARQ) acknowledgement (ACK),        signal-to-noise-and-interference ratio (C/I) feedback, etc.    -   Data rate control (DRC) cover and DSC for each sector/cell in        the AT's active set.

For example, one or more FL channels associated with a plurality (orfirst set) of frequencies, including FL channel 710 at FLfrequency_a, FLchannel 720 at FL_frequency_b, FL channel 730 at FLfrequency_c, and FLchannel 740 at FL_frequency_d, are to be transmitted from an AN to an AT(both not explicitly shown). One or more RL channels associated with asecond set of frequencies, including RL channel 750 at RL_frequency_x,RL channel 760 at RLfrequency_y, and RL channel 770 at RL_frequency_z,are assigned to the AT. In an embodiment, the AN may assign a subset ofthe FL channels each to carry RL-related information (e.g., a reversepower control (RPC) bit stream) for each of the RL channels assigned tothe AT. For example, FL channel 720 may be assigned to carry the RPC bitstream for RL channel 750, FL channel 730 may be assigned to carry theRPC bit stream for RL channel 760, and FL channel 740 may be assigned tocarry the RPC bit stream for RL channel 770, such as illustrated in FIG.7. Note, in this assignment, each pair of FL and RL channels need nothave the same frequency.

In an embodiment, the AN may select one of the FL channels, e.g., FLchannel 720, as the “primary FL channel,” and inform the AT to monitorthe control channel carried by the primary FL channel (e.g., forsupervision and other purposes). In this way, the AT may ignore other FLchannels insofar as monitoring the control channel is concerned.

In some embodiments, an RL channel may also carry FL-related informationfor one or more FL channels. For example, as illustrated by dashed linesin FIG. 7, RL channel 750 may carry FL-related information for each ofFL channels 710, 720, 730, which may include (but is not limited to)cell selection, sector selection, hybrid ARQ ACK, C/I feedback, etc.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of scheduler groups in a multi-carriercommunication system. If a plurality of pilots belong to the samescheduler group, they may for example share the same sequence number(e.g., ARQ or “QuickNAK” sequence number) in multi-link radio linkprotocol (RLP), where the sequence number may be associated withdetecting gap(s) in the data packet received through a single carrier.By way of example, pilots 810, 820, 830, 840 (shown with solid shading)may belong to the same scheduler group and share BTS queue 850 in thesame scheduling, as shown on the left hand side of the figure.

In some embodiments, a plurality of pilots may belong to the samescheduler group under any of the following conditions:

-   -   The scheduler tags associated with the pilots are the same (such        as illustrated in FIG. 8).    -   The pilots are in the same sub-active set of the AT (which may        include potential sectors to which the AT may point its DRC        cover) and belong to the sectors (e.g., sectors B and C) that        are in softer handoff with each other (such as identified in the        TCA message).

In some instances, if the TCA message does not specify the scheduler tagfor a pilot in the active set of the AT, then the scheduler tagassociated with that pilot may be assumed to be a number different fromother scheduler tag(s) specified in the message.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flow diagram of a process 900, which may be used inan embodiment to implement pilot grouping and reporting in amulti-carrier communication system. Step 910 groups a plurality of pilotsignals into one or more pilot groups, each pilot group being identifiedby a plurality of parameters (e.g., PN offset and GroupID, such asdescribed above). Step 920 selects a representative pilot signal fromeach pilot group for pilot strength reporting (such as described above).Process 900 may further include measuring the strength of therepresentative pilot signal, as shown in step 930.

FIG. 10 illustrates a flow diagram of a process 1000, which may be usedin connection with traffic channel assignment in a multi-carriercommunication system. Step 1010 receive a message (e.g., a TCA messagesuch as described above) indicating a plurality of forward link channelseach carrying RL-related information for each of reverse link channelsassociated with an access terminal Step 1020 assigns one of the reverselink channels to carry FL-related information associated with at leastone of the forward link channels (such as described above).

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow diagram of a process 1100, which may be usedin connection with scheduling in a multi-carrier communication system.Step 1110 groups a plurality of pilot signals into one or more schedulergroups in accordance with the sequence numbers of the pilot signals,wherein the pilot signals are characterized by a plurality offrequencies. Step 1120 associates each scheduler group with atransmission queue (such as described above).

FIG. 12 shows a block diagram of an apparatus 1200, which may be used toimplement some disclosed embodiments (such as described above). By wayof example, apparatus 1200 may include a receiving unit (or module) 1210configured to receive a plurality of pilot signals characterized by aplurality of frequencies; a grouping unit 1220 configured to group thepilot signals into one or more pilot groups, each pilot group identifiedby a plurality of parameters (e.g., PN offset and GroupID, such asdescried above); and a selecting unit 1230 configured to select arepresentative pilot signal from each pilot group for pilot strengthreporting. Apparatus 1200 may further include a measuring unit 1240configured to measure the strengths of the pilot signals (e.g., thestrength of the representative pilot signal associated with each pilotgroup), and a reporting unit 1250 configured to configured to report thestrength of the representative pilot signal for each pilot group to anAN (e.g., as the strengths of the pilot signals in the pilot groupexceed the pilot-add threshold, or fall below the pilot-drop threshold,such as described above). Apparatus 1200 may also include a DSC unit1260 configured to determine/point the DSC associated with an AT to eachof a plurality of cells on different frequencies (such as describedabove).

In apparatus 1200, receiving unit 1210, grouping unit 1220, selectingunit 1230, measuring unit 1240, reporting unit 1250, and DSC unit 1260may be coupled to a communication bus 1270. A processing unit 1280 and amemory unit 1290 may also be coupled to communication bus 1270.Processing unit 1280 may be configured to control and/or coordinate theoperations of various units. Memory unit 1290 may embody instructions tobe executed by processing unit 1280. In some embodiments, memory unit1290 may also store an AT's active set, candidate set, and neighbor set(such as described above).

FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 1300, which may beused to implement some disclosed embodiments (such as described above).By way of example, apparatus 1300 may include a receiving unit (ormodule) 1310 configured to receive a message (e.g., a TCA messagedescribed above) indicating a plurality of forward link channels eachcarrying RL-related information for each of reverse link channelsassociated with an access terminal; and a channel-assignment unit 1320configured to assign one of the reverse link channels to carryFL-related information associated with at least one of the forward linkchannels (such as described above). Apparatus 1300 may further include amonitoring unit 1330 configured to monitor the control channel carriedby one of the forward link channels (e.g., the primary FL channeldescribed above).

In apparatus 1300, receiving unit 1310, channel-assignment unit 1320,and monitoring unit 1330 may be coupled to a communication bus 1340. Aprocessing unit 1350 and a memory unit 1360 may also be coupled tocommunication bus 1340. Processing unit 1350 may be configured tocontrol and/or coordinate the operations of various units. Memory unit1360 may embody instructions to be executed by processing unit 1350.Apparatus 1300 may for example be implemented in an AT, or othercommunication devices.

FIG. 14 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 1400, which may beused to implement some disclosed embodiments (such as described above).By way of example, apparatus 1400 may include a grouping unit 1410configured to group a plurality of pilot signals into one or morescheduler groups (e.g., in accordance with the sequence numbers of thepilot signals); and a scheduling unit 1420 configured to associate eachscheduler group with a transmission queue (such as described above).

In apparatus 1400, grouping unit 1410 and scheduling unit 1420 may becoupled to a communication bus 1430. A processing unit 1440 and a memoryunit 1450 may also be coupled to communication bus 1430. Processing unit1440 may be configured to control and/or coordinate the operations ofvarious units. Memory unit 1450 may embody instructions to be executedby processing unit 1440. Apparatus 1400 may for example be implementedin an AN, or other network elements.

Embodiments disclosed herein provide some embodiments of pilot signalgrouping and reporting, set management, route protocols, and schedulingin a multi-carrier communication system. There are other embodiments andimplementations.

Various units/modules in FIGS. 12-14 and other embodiments may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof Ina hardware implementation, various units may be implemented within oneor more application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), digital signalprocessors (DSP), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGA), processors, microprocessors,controllers, microcontrollers, programmable logic devices (PLD), otherelectronic units, or any combination thereof In a softwareimplementation, various units may be implemented with modules (e.g.,procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions describedherein. The software codes may be stored in a memory unit and executedby a processor (or processing unit). The memory unit may be implementedwithin the processor or external to the processor, in which case it canbe communicatively coupled to the processor via various means known inthe art.

Various disclosed embodiments may be implemented in an AN, an AT, andother elements in multi-carrier communication systems.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented aselectronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. Toclearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software,various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and stepshave been described above generally in terms of their functionality.Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or softwaredepends upon the particular application and design constraints imposedon the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the describedfunctionality in varying ways for each particular application, but suchimplementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the present invention.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implementedor performed with a general purpose processor, a Digital SignalProcessor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), aField Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with theembodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in asoftware module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two.A software module may reside in Random Access Memory (RAM), flashmemory, Read Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Programmable ROM (EPROM),Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, aremovable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known inthe art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor suchthe processor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in anASIC. The ASIC may reside in an AT. In the alternative, the processorand the storage medium may reside as discrete components in an AT.

The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the presentinvention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles definedherein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is notintended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to beaccorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novelfeatures disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method in a communication system, comprising:receiving a message indicating a plurality of forward link channels eachcarrying reverse link-related information for each of reverse linkchannels associated with an access terminal; and assigning one of thereverse link channels to carry forward link-related informationassociated with at least one of the forward link channels.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the forward link-related information includes atleast one of a cell selection, a sector selection, an automatic repeatrequest (ARQ) acknowledgment (ACK), and asignal-to-noise-and-interference (C/I) feedback.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein the reverse link-related information includes a reverse powercontrol (RPC) bit stream.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprisingmonitoring a control channel carried by one of the forward linkchannels.
 5. An apparatus adapted for multi-carrier communications,comprising: means for receiving a message indicating a plurality offorward link channels each carrying reverse link-related information foreach of reverse link channels associated with an access terminal; andmeans for assigning one of the reverse link channels to carry forwardlink-related information associated with at least one of the forwardlink channels.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the forwardlink-related information includes at least one of a cell selection, asector selection, an automatic repeat request (ARQ) acknowledgment(ACK), and a signal-to-noise-and-interference (C/I) feedback
 7. Theapparatus of claim 5, wherein the reverse link-related informationincludes a reverse power control (RPC) bit stream.
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 5, further comprising means for monitoring a control channelcarried by one of the forward link channels.
 9. A method in amulti-carrier communication system, comprising: grouping a plurality ofpilot signals into one or more scheduler groups in accordance withsequence numbers of the pilot signals, the pilot signals characterizedby a plurality of frequencies; and associating each scheduler group witha transmission queue.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein each schedulergroup includes one or more pilot signals having a same sequence number.11. The method of claim 10, wherein the sequence number is associatedwith detecting gaps in a received data packet.
 12. The method of claim9, wherein each scheduler group includes one or more pilot signalsassociated with a sub-active set of an access terminal.
 13. The methodof claim 12, wherein the pilot signals in each scheduler group areassociated with a plurality of sectors in softer handoff.
 14. Anapparatus adapted for multi-carrier communications, comprising: meansfor grouping a plurality of pilot signals into one or more schedulergroups in accordance with sequence numbers of the pilot signals, thepilot signals characterized by a plurality of frequencies; and means forassociating each scheduler group with a transmission queue.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 14, wherein each scheduler group includes one or morepilot signals having a same sequence number.
 16. The apparatus of claim15, wherein the sequence number is associated with detecting gaps in areceived data packet.
 17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein eachscheduler group includes one or more pilot signals associated with asub-active set of an access terminal
 18. The apparatus of claim 17,wherein the pilot signals in each scheduler group are associated with aplurality of sectors in softer handoff.